


If Something Was Here

by UnknownSatellite84



Series: Noncontober 2020 [2]
Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Altered Mental States, Creepy, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Explicit Sexual Content, M/M, Monster!Jack, Monsters, Noncontober 2020, Oviposition, Poisoning, Self-Indulgent, Sex Pollen, Slime, Suspension, Tentacle Dick, Tentacle Rape, Tentacles, deep-throating, implied eggpreg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:20:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26802802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnknownSatellite84/pseuds/UnknownSatellite84
Summary: Rhys explores Nakayama's abandoned ship, only to find something unexpected...
Relationships: Handsome Jack/Rhys (Borderlands)
Series: Noncontober 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1952530
Comments: 8
Kudos: 85





	1. Day 3: Sex Pollen

**Author's Note:**

> For Noncontober Day 3: Sex Pollen. 
> 
> No smut yet, but hoping to add a very dirty chapter 2 :). The point of the challenges is to not be overwhelmed, and writing any more was too overwhelming for me rn.
> 
> Not heavily edited, apologies for typos/mistakes!

Rhys gazed out of the landed shuttle as a light mist came from the sky. He saw the silhouette of the giant ship: Nakayama’s long-dead ship that’d been left to rust, lying deep in the swamps. Doubts reared their heads. He raised his cyber arm and let his eyes travel down the data projected from his palm. Yep, this was the right place, somehow. The worst place. Aegrus. He wasn’t sure he wanted to leave the shuttle. A tight ball of anxiety wound up his core, but the potential rewards of getting through this…

Why couldn’t Nakayama have crash-landed somewhere nicer?

He stepped out, one foot sinking into mud, the other still in the shuttle. A grimace went across his face, and he resisted the urge to pull back. Good thing he’d brought his travel gear. He would hate to ruin his good boots. This was not a place for a CEO. He dropped the rest of the way onto the unsteady ground with a disgusting squelch sound. His hair felt like it was sticking to his skin already, and he pushed it back irritatedly.

He took his pulley and approached the edge of a giant, jagged hole in the side of the ship, gazing down into a yawning darkness. A quick scan of his echo eye told him it was - _surprisingly_ \- free of creatures. Maybe the old tech here had driven them off, somehow. There were also no detected chemical leaks, according to one Echo Eye. Cautiously, he hooked one edge of the pulley to a sturdy beam, and attached the other to his belt. Ignoring the mounting fear, he told himself not to look down.

It turned out, lowering oneself into a dark, abandoned ship was both as terrifying and not as bad as one would expect but hope. While it felt like anything might attack at a moment’s notice, Rhys also felt a little better with the old tech around him. It was familiar -- reminded him of his rookie days at Hyperion, when he had a lot of high hopes. His feet made contact with solid metal. 

He sighed with relief.

On solid ground, he scanned around again. No animals or monsters. The technology, though... Everything was mostly dead. Just the faintest amount of juice lingered in the emergency power systems. Well built apparently, to have any all this time later. But ultimately irrelevant.

He walked to the nearest console.

His neck tingled. 

He snapped his eyes up. Something was there. He strained to see into the shadows, Echo Eye flaring. He did another visual sweep in every direction. Every corner and wallspace.

Nothing was there. Not a single spiderant or crabworm.

He was just spooking himself.

He pulled free his portable decryptor-generator and hooked it up, waiting impatiently as the console booted up sluggishly. Most of the data was corrupted, but Rhys decrypted enough to determine the heart of the project was one level up and further into the ship.

Wonderful. He’d hoped he wouldn’t have to go much further into this ship. Luck was not on his side.

Rhys would’ve brought some guards or something, but nobody could be trusted with the secrets he would uncover here. Even Hyperion barely remembered, much less cared about, the existence of this place. Rhys almost regretted his own over-caution on that count. It wasn’t worth dying for this… But he hadn’t wanted to kill off someone if they found something they could never speak of.

Rhys’s Echo Eye quickly mapped the nearest route. He could see it was an access ladder in the nearby hallway. He eyed the moss-covered walls, wary, and scanned once more. Nothing. It was starting to seem odd that an abandoned, derelict ship in the middle of the jungle wouldn’t have some form of infestation in it. He shivered.

Perhaps there was some ultrasonic defense system protecting this place from pests. If so, Rhys had to commend that idiot Nakayama for getting one thing right. Hopefully more than one thing right, if this place answered his silent prayers he’d been sending up nightly for the past few years.

Rhys was halfway down the hallway when he froze again, the chill flooding his body suddenly and heavily, heart thudding in his chest. He could’ve sworn the shadows had shifted, that a vine slithered up the wall like a serpent. Just as before, there was nothing there. If there was a living creature in this old derelict ship, his Echo Eye would say so. He moved again, increasing his pace. His footsteps sounded ominous in his ears, but he pushed _that_ weird thought away. He got to the ladder and climbed it. The lighting was worse here. His Echo Eye made up for it.

Rhys made it on the landing, traveling to the chamber described. As he neared the room, he froze, noting light from within. 

Someone had to be here. 

His Echo Eye scanned quietly and he learned otherwise... No one was here. The technology here was somehow still alive. On its own.

The nearby monitor came to life. 

Rhys squinted. Hmm… Last accessed…two _weeks_ ago?

He swept the room, Echo Eye ever alert, but there was no evidence anyone had accessed this terminal. No dry muddy footprints to match his own. No recent supplies. Not even skin or hair cells or faint human bio-signatures his Echo Eye would pick up. Only vines and plant slime coated the walls and floor.

Rhys returned to the console, shrugging. Maybe the time system was screwed up -- some sort of electronic malfunction. The amount of humidity was likely to have caused issues. He swept a hand through his hair and sighed. _Come on, Rhys, get it done and get out of here._ He plugged in his decryptor again. The old technology was no match for its power as it blasted through firewalls.

Rhys gave it time to give him the information he needed, praying.

He heard a slick sound, like something wet sliding on the floor. He snapped his eyes toward the direction. Again, nothing. He let his gun slip out of his cyber arm slot and into his hand, just in case. It was probably just his brain playing tricks, but he had to be careful. If something was here, his Echo Eye would’ve picked it up, but he wasn’t going to judge himself for playing it safe.

The decryptor blinked. 

Done.

Rhys hastily opened the file, speed reading until-

_-The Vault Hunters destroyed my last sample of Jack’s DNA….I have no more pure samples. Bringing Handsome Jack back as he was, is not an option. Good thing I still have the creations… I shall unleash hell on them._

“No,” Rhys hissed, heart pounding. “No no, _destroyed-?_ They weren’t supposed to be _destroyed_!” He slammed his fist against a nearby desk that rattled. All of this for nothing. All the work, the hope, the stress, and now he was in the middle of a disgusting swamp, feeling dirty and tired --scared too-- wishing he’d not let himself harbor those hopes. 

He shouldn’t be too harsh on himself, though… It had still been worth a try, right?

Before he left, he should examine the files more closely. He needed to stop freaking out. Didn’t it mention some sort of creations? He continued skimming.

- _Perhaps I can isolate the sample later and reconstruct human DNA...but it seems a long shot. I’m not a geneticist, and I do not have a pure sample of Jack’s segments..._

“What the hell does that mean?” Rhys muttered, eying the data. Nakayama seemed to have mutated Jack’s DNA….to what end? And where could Rhys obtain a sample of this mutated DNA? Although he probably didn’t have a much larger chance than Nakayama at reconstructing the DNA, _someone_ might. Rhys checked the date of Nakayama’s last journal, finding that it was set several years ago. He read some more, learning that most of the creations had been contained to the ship’s cell block. They’d be long dead by now, he supposed. Perhaps there’d be some bones left or something for him to get dead cells from.

Rhys checked the cell block on the cameras. It wasn’t easy, most of the cameras were covered in mold, slime, or plantlife, but he saw enough to know…there were still a few, old bones lying around down there, some humanoid. There was no guarantee they would turn out, but he wasn’t going to leave here with nothing. Rhys nodded in decision and mapped his destination to that block.

Rhys hurried. He didn’t let his paranoia slow him down. He had a chance and he wasn’t going to waste it. He kept his Echo Eye on and moved.

The cell block was….creepy. At this point, every one of Rhys’s own cells were screaming at him to run. His feet felt heavy, the air hard to breath. There was grass growing up through the floor, faint watery light seeping through a jagged hole in the ceiling. Several skeletons lay around. Rhys carefully walked amongst them, barely breathing as he looked for- _AHA_! Traces of Handsome Jack’s DNA were detected in one, which meant it was surprisingly intact! This place was going to pay off! He squatted and grimaced. With his cyber arm, he prised a grisly bone fragment up. He studied it. “Let’s hope you can give me what I want,” he told the fragment.

His Echo Eye alerted him to a brief indication of life.

His neck stung. “O-ow what the-?“ He reached up, fingers brushing on something embedded in the skin. Fear shot through him. _How_? He pulled it out, wincing in pain. It was some sort of…spine? He glanced at the ceiling and around the room, seeing nothing. What had hit him? It didn’t matter now.

He ran for the door, pocketing the bone fragment in his zippable pocket.

He had to go before whatever it was decided he was a meal.

The room swayed and he rubbed his eyes. Fuck.

Poisoned? He sure as hell hoped not. His fear twisted as his Echo Eye popped up a warning about a toxin in his bloodstream. “Fuck.” He was poisoned. Fuck- He just had to get back to the ship. He had anti-toxins in there. He forgot to bring them along and- He increased his speed, relying on his Echo Eye to help him find his way back. He ignored the brief thought that his heart pumping faster just meant it was spreading through him quicker.

_I won’t make it..._

Each step became harder than the last. His saliva felt thick, his throat closing. Breathing was hard. He fought the panic, the sense of confusion. Keep going, keep going. Where was he? Why was there so much fog? 

Keep.

Moving. 

What was that red box in his eyes? He shook his head. The arrow told him he had to keep moving. Come on.

Foggy gray light came from the sky above. A rope. A metal platform. His... _pulley_...that was the word… It waited.

His legs gave out.

So close, so far.

Keep moving. 

He had to. 

Rhys breathed the scent of metal and plant and mud. He reached up with his cyber arm and gripped the metal of the ship. Hauled himself forward. His limbs felt like lead, but his cyber arm remained strong and unaffected, as did a part of his neural cybernetics. It was the only thing keeping him going.

“ _Wow_ ,” A voice echoed around him. “You just keep going, pumpkin. Most of them just, spppth, go down like a sack of potatoes and never get back up. But you…not so much. Those damn crawlers, eh? Nasty poison.”

Where was that voice coming from?

It seemed to reverberate through the whole room.

Some of the fog cleared.

Rhys heard movement, and his Echo Eye…detected something nearby. A living animal. The feedback of what kind told him nothing. A...human? The reading fluctuated; it made no sense. Panic reignited itself. He must be hallucinating now. He had to- He struggled to move, to get up, anything. If he could get to his shuttle. He could barely remember why. _Just make it to your shuttle._

He felt a pressure against his spine, like a hand resting there. It rustled and slipped through the layers of his clothing, spreading out, like fingers, along his skin. It was slick and wet.

Rhys’s Echo Eye flashed many alarms.

Rhys squirmed at the feeling, but his body wasn’t cooperating. His cyber arm reached back. It was slammed back down, pinned. Rhys’s foggy gaze saw a tendril of a reddish, purple, green hue around his wrist, holding it still. More touches spread up his skin, like roots spreading out over him.

The voice spoke again, vibrating through the touches against Rhys’s body. “Whaaat am I gonna do with you, huh, you naughty thing?

“You got a name, sweetheart?” 

Rhys shook his head.

The pressure changed, becoming harsher. It slipped around his throat, still wet, and he knew a threat. 

“…Rhys,” he rasped weakly. “Are you gonna…kill me?” He asked the voice.

“Well get to that later, precious. ‘Sides, aint me you gotta worry about right now...not when you’ve been poisoned. Oh you’ll last...for a bit, apparently… You know, you ain’t so bad looking. Not like the usual idiots who stumble in. You’re _cute as a kitten_.”

Something caressed his jaw. Rhys glanced up longingly at the pulley. A frustration flooded him. He spat. “Let me out!”

“Feisty? You’re full of surprises, aren’t you?”

The pressure withdrew from him. Rhys wished the fog on his mind would lift fully. He needed to get up, get out. 

“I’m gonna enjoy putting you in your place, then.”

Rhys’s head thunked against the ground. He was so tired. The wet touch slithered against his jaw, to his lips. “What- ahmmm-“ It slid into his mouth, thick and slimy. He blinked. The obtrusion tasted like dirt. It explored and pressed deeper, slipping into his throat. Rhys gagged.

“How’s that feel, pumkin?”

It pulled out.

Rhys coughed, saliva spilling from his lips. “Nnn, fuck-“ It pressed back in, going slower. It only slightly distracted him from the feeling of more of the….tendrils, slipping around his body. It thrust into his throat, and Rhys shuddered. He choked again.

“Oh yeah, back at Hyperion, you woulda looked real good choking on my dick like a good boy.” The obtrusion left.

“What is...ugh, happening?” Rhys grunted from his sore throat. He couldn’t remember how he’d gotten here, try as he might. He tried to spit the flavor of…whatever that was from his mouth. It lingered, burning his taste buds. “ _Hy...Hyperion_?” Speaking was hard. 

A rustle responded. 

The tendrils shifted and yanked him up off the floor, suspending his limp body in the dim light, upright, but spread on display.

“Oh, cupcake, haven’t you figured it out yet, or are you that daft?”

Movement, and… Rhys saw something he was certain to be hallucinating. Suspended in several tendrils, was a...a _mask_. A mask he’d only ever seen in videos. “Ha...Handsome...Jack?” He asked. He had to be delirious. He’d fallen into a fever dream. A really weird one. He was probably literally dying, stuck in this made up coma. So much for all his hopes and dreams.

“The one and only, baby.” As…this thing... _Jack_ \-- tentacle Jack? Tree Jack?-- talked, the tendrils manipulated the mask’s mouth, making it move. 

Rhys felt himself fading out.

“Oh no you don’t.”

Just then, all the tendrils glowed a deep red and pulsed. A fluffy mist filled the air, hitting Rhys. Rhys breathed before he could think, inhaling the stuff. It warmed him inside and out. “Jack-what-“ Rhys felt himself slacken more, drool spilling from his lips. He groaned.

“Sorry princess, but without that stuff you’d be dead in about ten minutes or less. Unfortunately for you, it has a funny side effect or two."

Rhys’s pants felt tighter.

“Now, we’re gonna have fun, you and I.” Laughter rang around him.


	2. Day 5: Restrained/Bondage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Didn't have a better idea for Day 5, so here it is. Day 5: Restrained/Bondage
> 
> WARNING: New/updated tags, please read them!

Rhys couldn’t move. The tendrils gripped him in a way that prevented any struggle. Rhys experienced everything complacently. Thoughts of resistance fled, already wispy and weak. The pressure against his body wasn’t missed, though. It felt good. 

In spite of the fog in his brain, a part of him fought the mist, trying to remember.

_I...I wanted to find Handsome Jack… A way to bring him back…_

The touch pressed against the crotch of his pants, rubbing, bringing Rhys gratification.

_Where am I? What is this? What is this feeling?_

Rhys let out a groan. Heavy, warm arousal flooded his belly. His cock stiffened under the attention. The tendrils slipped around his belt, working it apart as if they’d done this before. Rhys stretched reflexively as his belt fell away, easing the clothing over his hips. Before he could blink, his boots and pants were tugged off. The muggy air hit his skin, lost in the warmth and oozing damp of the tendrils.

That voice that Rhys practically worshipped resonated around him. “It’s been...a _looong_ while since I’ve gotten…to play around with someone, cupcake. Goddamn, I missed this.”

A tentacle slid down Rhys’s hip. Rhys’s skin rose with gooseflesh as the tendrils spread along his thighs and ass cheeks. He squirmed under the touch. “ _Jack…_ ” He just...couldn’t think. Could only make some noise, feel slick feelings on his skin. There was a sweet, cloying smell in the air, like decaying leaves and old flowers. But Jack was there, somehow. This had to be a dream.

“You ever _dream_ about it, pumpkin? You ever dream about what Handsome Jack could do to ya?” The voice reverberated through his body. It sounded like the echo of a vision, haunting -- a ghost or a dying god -- and Rhys’s eyes drifted shut. He basked in it. It was a melody in his ears.

His eyes snapped open and he yelped. The wet slippery grip shifted to his cock. Pleasure sparked up his body, legs jerking. Every nerve ending burned with addicting intensity. He was lost to each sensation, in his own brain, as he floated on cloud nine. He moaned and looked down, barely comprehending the sight of the slick appendage holding him, availing him, pleasing him. He wanted to buck into it, suspended and used.

Something pressed against his ass. He could feel it...feel it going in and… Holy fuck. It was small enough that it didn’t hurt, but-

Rhys’s body jerked. Oh, that felt... _good_. “Hah, fuck-“ It got wider further down its length as it went up inside of him. He shook with need, body uncooperative. “Jaack... _ah_ -“ 

A second tendril slipped inside him with no warning, stretching him more. He twisted and writhed against the slick restraints, unable to control his body. A part of him screamed, the other part choked, and the rest of him forgot which won out. Several more tendrils slipped around Rhys, as if holding him in a twisted embrace. He trembled. Jack chuckled.

“This is the most fun I’ve had as a mushroom yet, so thanks, princess,” Jack was saying, and it vibrated around Rhys.

Rhys was starting to come back to himself amidst the attention. He remembered the mission. He also remembered...tree Jack? He remembered being poisoned and...now, now being _fucked_ by a Jack...creation. He shook his head. _Whatthefuckwhatthefuck- what the fuck is he doing- oh my god?_ He saw the slime collecting on his body: limbs, chest, abdomen, everywhere-- oozing from the appendages. In places, it contained a low, bioluminescent glow… It was kind of...pretty. Some tiny part of him thought, _well, this shirt’s good and ruined. Good thing it was just a travel one…_ The rest of him was very distracted. The grip on his cock shifted and jerked upward, smearing slime and precum. Rhys shuddered, because, somehow, this all felt really, really good-

_What is wrong with me?_ Rhys panted, overwhelmed. _Holy shit, holy shit-_ “What-what did you do to me?” Rhys whined as he pulled back. “What _are_ you doing, like right now? Oh my god-”

Another burst of the hazy, red, pollen stuff flooded the air, and Rhys’s mind plunged into the depths of pleasure again. He could feel every thrust as if it were flowing through his core, deep inside his body. It was wet and smooth and he couldn’t do anything other than writhe. He didn’t feel anything else. The tendrils moved back into his mouth, commanding his attention on them. Rhys keened, a sucking sensation against his cock, and his eyes flitted down to see the tendril on it had engulfed it in tight coils, moving in a way that was addicting. He couldn't even see himself in it. Rhys thrusted his hips in a desperate response, needing it. The feeling was perfect, tight and slick.

"Ya like that, baby boy?" Something flicked his nipple. 

It flicked his nipple again.

Rhys moaned.

He grew exhausted, but the moment just kept going.

Jack slid all the tentacles out of Rhys. There was a lull, and Rhys panted, whimpers escaping his lip, still trapped and helpless. Jack’s mask hovered before him. “Oh, you’re gonna love this…” A tendril, different from the others, shifted into view. It had a distinctive bulbous head with a gaping slit that leaked a clear, mucous-like substance. It was more transparent than the others and wide like a water bottle. Jack’s chuckle filled Rhys’s ears. The thick tendril...thing, dropped down and disappeared behind Rhys. 

It pushed inside Rhys without hesitating, and it was _big_ , but Rhys’s body took it. His legs spread in response. It felt like...it felt like it expanded even wider, curling up into him. Rhys’s eyes rolled back and he groaned. Rhys shook violently. It shouldn't have been this easy, or this good, but it was.

The tentacle slammed deep, slotting into him. He cried out, intense pleasure running through him. Jack plowed him, the appendage thrusting, and it pulled with each drag out, and slipped perfectly in each time. “You _feel_ really good, princess.” Jack praised. “You look like a freakin’ model, too… Some things I took for granted as...well, a human. But now...being a frickin'...monster...the _things_ I can do. I don’t mind it so much right now. Or when I’m strangling... Strangling power is off the friggin’ charts.”

The Jack mask appeared in front of him, and it...for lack of a better word, _kissed_ him, the smooth, false lips pressing against his own. Tendrils slithered out those lips and into Rhys's mouth...and throat. Rhys choked, but sucked on them, because it seemed the right thing to do. The taste seemed sweeter than before. He could shut his eyes, and almost remember a fantasy, of being on his knees for Jack.

There was a decided widening inside him, one that faded. Rhys's eyes flew open.

He wasn't kissing Jack.

Just a mask...a tentacle mask.

It pulled away, tentacles sliding away from his lips.

Jack said, “ah, hah...oh yeah... Naka-loser gave me a little fun, ehhh... _reproduction_ , there... Think you’ll like that, huh? I think you will. It'll be like...Mercenary Day for you.”

The enlarging sensation happened again and again. Rhys shivered and gasped each time, his face burning, sweat beading his brow. He was soaked, everywhere. Rhys couldn't really process what exactly was causing the experience. It didn't really matter. His eyes slipped shut, submitting to the pleasure it brought.

“Now, Rhysie, you’ll carry these...little Jacks back to Hyperion, _right_ , pumpkin?” It almost felt like someone patted Rhys’s back. A tentacle kissed his neck. “I’ve got plans. Don’t worry, figured out what you were up to earlier... Don’t need that bone fragment. I’ll give you plenty of my DNA.” He just laughed some more. "Oh, baby."

Rhys came, emotions bursting like a fountain, body tightening and cum spilling from his cock. Jack chuckled. “You sound so sweet, baby.”

Had Rhys screamed?

Probably.

Rhys fell asleep.

* * *

Rhys’s body was sore, feeling heavy, muscles aching like he’d just worked out… And he never did that. Rhys groaned and opened his eyes. His clothes were...disgusting, covered in sticky stuff he didn’t know what it could be. He gazed up and...realized he was in his shuttle. Did he...did he obtain the DNA? He moved sluggishly, gripping around…

That’s when he remembered…

He slumped. Oh...that really happened...didn’t it?

Rhys swallowed, throat aching. He sat up and punched in the coordinates to go home. He glanced out the shuttle window, thinking, for just a moment, he saw Handsome Jack’s mask in the mist beyond.


End file.
